Lady Gaga Recalls Being an Extra in an AC/DC Music Video Pre-Fame — and What She Was Told Not to Do

12/16/2024 12:38 PM

The pop icon revealed the story during Apple TV's 'Carpool Karaoke Christmas' special

Lady Gaga has always wanted to "just dance" however she feels.

In the special Christmas episode of Carpool Karaoke, which premiered on Sunday, Dec. 15 and also featured Dua Lipa and Chappell Roan, the pop icon, 38, recalled a time when she was told to tone things down as a music video extra.

While speaking with Zane Lowe, Gaga took the opportunity to share a clip of her late grandmother singing AC/DC's 1979 classic "Highway to Hell."

Related: Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa and Chappell Roan Hop into the Passenger Seat for Carpool Karaoke Christmas Special

Both the Apple Music 1 host, 51, and the "Disease" singer laughed at the clip of Gaga's nana shouting the lyrics from a chair in her living room.

"Get it, grandma!" Gaga remarked.

As the "Alejandro" musician became emotional discussing the lessons she learned from her grandma, Lowe left the vehicle to grab Gaga's Christmas gift — AC/DC singer Brian Johnson.

Together, the pair then delivered a duet of "Highway to Hell" as Johnson, 47, was stunned by Gaga's impressive vocals.

After the duo rocked out a little more, Gaga recalled starring as an extra in a 2000 AC/DC music video.

"You wanna hear something funny? I was in the 'Stiff Upper Lip' video," she told Johnson. "I was 17 and I was an extra in the back."

At the time, Gaga said she was "headbanging," which didn't go over too well.

"I was headbanging and they were like, 'hmmm. Don't head bang, we want it to be modern.' And I was like, 'no, there's only one more that I can do,'" she recalled.

During the episode, Gaga also sang her 2008 holiday single "Christmas Tree" which had Lowe puzzled by its suggestive lyrics including "underneath the mistletoe, everyone knows we will take off our clothes," and "my Christmas tree's delicious."

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Carpool Karaoke's hour-long holiday special of the show marked the series' first episode in 18 months. 

Regular host James Corden handed over the keys and the front seat of his SUV to Lowe for all three segments.

"Zane, my guy. Listen I need a favor, okay? I've got three friends, they just need a ride," he told Lowe during a phone call at the beginning of the special.